]]>Who doesn’t love a good deal! Here’s my annual post of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. This all start because as a freelancer, I’m always looking to save money for my business. I thought I would share all the deals I found and put them in one place.

I can’t possibly find every deal! If you have one, please post it in the comments.

Please keep checking this post – I’ll be posting new deals throughout the weekend.

Please note: These are not endorsements. I have used some of these products/services, but I can’t check them all. I’m merely passing the savings on to you.

WordPress Plugins

Envira Gallery is the best responsive WordPress gallery plugin. Unlike other gallery plugins, Envira is super fast and extremely simple to use. It comes packed with features like responsive design, lightbox and slideshow functionality, custom CSS etc. This deal is good until December 1, 2017.
Use the coupon code: BF2017 to get 25% OFF on all Envira Gallery plans.

The Most Intuitive WordPress Gallery Tool Ever Created – FooGallery sets a new standard for WordPress gallery plugins. Developed by the same team that brought you FooBox, FooGallery is the most solid and user friendly gallery plugin ever made. Offer ends November 27, 2017.Spin the wheel to get your discount.

The Events Calendar Suite is a series of WordPress plugins that make managing events from your site easy, efficient, and downright sexy. Offer expires November 27, 2017.
Spend up to $149 and save 10% with the code: REST10
Spend $150-$299 and save 20% with the code: RELAX20
Spend $300+ and save 30% with the code: UNWIND30

OptinMonster is a WordPress lead generation plugin. It allows you to easily create popups, optin forms, and comes with powerful features such as exit intent, analytics, smart user targeting and much more. This deal is good until December 1, 2017.
Use the coupon code: BF2017 to get 25% OFF all plans.

Soliloquy is the best WordPress slider plugin in the market. It is fully responsive, blazing fast, and super easy to use.
Use the coupon code: BF2017 to get 25% OFF on all Soliloquy plans. This deal is good until December 1, 2017.

ThirstyAffiliates – a suite of affiliate marketing tools that helps the average WordPress blog owner monetize their content with powerful efficiency. This deal is good until December 4, 2017.
Use coupon code: BF2017

Gravity Forms is the easiest tool to create advanced forms for your WordPress-powered website. 50% off all licenses – Basic Licenses are $29.50, Pro Licenses are $79.50, and Elite Licenses are $129.50. Same great product, same great support, insane deals. Only valid on Friday, November 24, 2017.

Caldera Forms is a different kind of WordPress form builder. Developed to be responsive, intuitive and meet the needs of the modern WordPress site builder. Use coupon code to get 20% off all subscriptions.
Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY20

WordPress Themes

Semplice is the first fully responsive case study portfolio system based on WordPress. Built by designers, for designers. Get 30% off Single, Studio & Business Edition. Offer expires November 27, 2017.

Launch your website in minutes with one of our pixel-perfect themes. No bloat, no headaches, just really good websites and speedy support when you need it. This deal is good from November 24 through November 30, 2017.
Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY

WordPress Hosting

Siteground is one of the top choice WordPress hosting provider. This year Siteground is offering a whooping 70% discount on all shared hosting plans during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. This deal is good from November 24 through November 27, 2017.

WPEngine is one of the best managed WordPress hosting service providers. This year WPEngine is offering 35% of your first payment monthly or yearly (best deal!). This deal is good from November 22 through November 27, 2017.
Use coupon code: CYBERWPE35

Online Courses

Udemy is the world’s online learning marketplace, where 9 million+ students are taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography–and much, much more. Each of our 35,000+ courses is taught by an expert instructor, and every course is available on-demand, so students can learn at their own pace, on their own time, and on any device. Offer expires November 29, 2017.

Are you looking to level up your skills and learn to create WordPress plugins instead of just installing them? You’ve come to the right place. You’ll learn how to install the tools you need, all the way up to learning the essential WordPress plugin development tasks. Normally $87, this course is $57 for its launch and with the coupon code it’s $47 (total of $40 savings!).
Use coupon code: LAUNCH2017

]]>It’s that time of the year! Here is my list of 2016 Black Friday deals for the web designer and graphic designer (and photographer, too). Please keep checking this post – I’ll be posting new deals throughout the weekend.

Please note: These are not endorsements. I have used some of these products/services, but I can’t check them all. I’m merely passing the savings on to you.

WordPress Plugins

Create interactive images in WordPress. Perfect for floor plans, trade shows, group photos, product features, and annotated image tutorials. This deal is good from November 25 through November 28, 2016.
Use the coupon code: BFDA2016 to get 25% OFF.

Envira Gallery is the best responsive WordPress gallery plugin. Unlike other gallery plugins, Envira is super fast and extremely simple to use. It comes packed with features like responsive design, lightbox and slideshow functionality, custom CSS etc. This deal is good until December 1, 2016.
Use the coupon code: BF2016 to get 35% OFF on all Envira Gallery plans.

The Events Calendar Suite is a series of WordPress plugins that make managing events from your site easy, efficient, and downright sexy. Offer expires November 28, 2016.
Spend up to $149 and save 10% with the code: Rest
Spend $150-$299 and save 15% with the code: Relaxation
Spend $300+ and save 30% with the code: Rejuvenation

OptinMonster is a WordPress lead generation plugin. It allows you to easily create popups, optin forms, and comes with powerful features such as exit intent, analytics, smart user targeting and much more. This deal is good until December 1, 2016.
Use the coupon code: BF2016 to get 35% OFF all plans.

Soliloquy is the best WordPress slider plugin in the market. It is fully responsive, blazing fast, and super easy to use.
Use the coupon code: BF2016 to get 35% OFF on all Soliloquy plans. This deal is good until December 1, 2016.

ThirstyAffiliates – a suite of affiliate marketing tools that helps the average WordPress blog owner monetize their content with powerful efficiency. This deal is good until December 4, 2016.
Use coupon code: BF2016

WooCommerce is the most customizable eCommerce platform for building your online business. WooCommerce itself is free, but they offer many extensions and themes that will be 35% off. This deal is good from November 25 through November 28, 2016.
Use the coupon code: WOOBLACKCYBER to get 35% OFF.

WordPress Themes

aThemes create awesome WordPress themes, both free and premium. Their themes focus on simplicity (no bloat here!), ease of use, and clean design. This deal is good from November 25 through November 28, 2016.
Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY16 for 50% off all themes and membership packages

Semplice is the first fully responsive case study portfolio system based on WordPress. Built by designers, for designers. Get 40% off purchases over $40. Offer expires November 28, 2016.
Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY

Template Monster offers one of the biggest collection of website templates online. They offer web templates designed and developed by field experts. This deal is good from November 24 through December 6, 2016.No discount code needed for 50% off

WordPress Hosting

Siteground is one of the top choice WordPress hosting provider. This year Siteground is offering a whooping 70% discount on all shared hosting plans during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. This deal is good from November 25 through November 28, 2016.

WPEngine is one of the best managed WordPress hosting service providers. This year WPEngine is offering 5 months free hosting with their annual plan. This deal is good from November 24 through November 28, 2016.
Use coupon code: cyberwknd

Domains

Namecheap will be offering 2 different specials every hour on Black Friday (November 25) AND THEN on Cyber Monday (November 28) (no deals on Saturday or Sunday). Your refresh button will get a workout.

Online Courses

Udemy is the world’s online learning marketplace, where 9 million+ students are taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography–and much, much more. Each of our 35,000+ courses is taught by an expert instructor, and every course is available on-demand, so students can learn at their own pace, on their own time, and on any device. Offer expires November 25, 2015 at midnight.

Envato Tuts+ offers video courses and written tutorials to help you learn creative skills in code, design and illustration, photography, video, music, web design, game development, craft, and more. Offer is only for Cyber Monday, November 28, 2016.

]]>It’s that time of the year! Here is my list of 2015 Black Friday deals for the web designer and graphic designer (and photographer, too). Please keep checking this post – I’ll be posting new deals throughout the weekend.

Please note: These are not endorsements. I have used some of these products/services, but I can’t check them all. I’m merely passing the savings on to you.

WordPress Plugins

OptinMonster is a WordPress lead generation plugin. It allows you to easily create popups, optin forms, and comes with powerful features such as exit intent, analytics, smart user targeting and much more. This deal is good until December 1, 2015.
Use the coupon code: BF2015 to get 35% OFF all plans.

Soliloquy is the best WordPress slider plugin in the market. It is fully responsive, blazing fast, and super easy to use.
Use the coupon code: BF2015 to get 35% OFF on all Soliloquy plans. This deal is good until December 1, 2015.

Envira Gallery is the best responsive WordPress gallery plugin. Unlike other gallery plugins, Envira is super fast and extremely simple to use. It comes packed with features like responsive design, lightbox and slideshow functionality, custom CSS etc. This deal is good until December 1, 2015.
Use the coupon code: BF2015 to get 35% OFF on all Envira Gallery plans.

Spend up to $99 and save 20% with the code: Our
Spend $100-$149 and save 25% with the code: Community
Spend $150-$299 and save 30% with the code: Deserves
Spend $300-$499 and save 35% with the code: Time
Spend $500+ and save 40% with the code: Off

ThirstyAffiliates – a suite of affiliate marketing tools that helps the average WordPress blog owner monetize their content with powerful efficiency. Offer runs from November 27 through December 1, 2015.

Use coupon code: BF2015

WordPress Themes

Semplice is the first fully responsive case study portfolio system based on WordPress. Built by designers, for designers. Get 30% off any of their editions. Offer expires December 3, 2015.
Use coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY

Get Premium WordPress Themes, Power Packed Plugins and Video Tutorials all at one place. Setup Business & Professional looking WordPress sites or blogs within minutes. Offer valid until December 5, 2015.
Use coupon code: WPEKABF30

Themify offers premium WordPress themes and plugins. Right now they have a 40% discount on themes, plugins, and club memberships. They’re also giving a $100 discount on all Lifetime Master Club membership purchases. Offer valid until November 30, 2015, 11:59pm EST.
Use coupon code for 40% discount: BLACKFRIDAYUse coupon code for$100 off Lifetime Master Club: AWESOME

WordPress Hosting

Siteground is one of the top choice WordPress hosting provider. This year Siteground is offering a whooping 70% discount on all shared hosting plans during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. This deal is good from November 27 through November 30, 2015.

WPEngine is one of the best managed WordPress hosting service providers. This year WPEngine is offering 5 months free hosting with their annual plan.
Black Friday (Nov. 27) – Use the coupon code: WPEBF30Cyber Weekend (Nov. 28-29) – Use the coupon code: WPECW30Cyber Monday (Nov. 30) – Use the coupon code: WPECM30

Online Courses

Udemy is the world’s online learning marketplace, where 9 million+ students are taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography–and much, much more. Each of our 35,000+ courses is taught by an expert instructor, and every course is available on-demand, so students can learn at their own pace, on their own time, and on any device. Offer expires November 27, 2015 at midnight.

Envato Tuts+ offers video courses and written tutorials to help you learn creative skills in code, design and illustration, photography, video, music, web design, game development, craft, and more. Offer is only on November 30, 2015

WordPress

OptinMonster is a WordPress lead generation plugin. It allows you to easily create popups, optin forms, and comes with powerful features such as exit intent, analytics, smart user targeting and much more. This deal is good till December 1, 2014.
Use the coupon code: BF2014 to get 35% OFF OptinMonster.

Soliloquy is the best WordPress slider plugin in the market. It is fully responsive, blazing fast, and super easy to use.
Use the coupon code: BF2014 to get 35% OFF on all Soliloquy plans. This deal is good till December 1, 2014.

Envira Gallery is the best responsive WordPress gallery plugin. Unlike other gallery plugins, Envira is super fast and extremely simple to use. It comes packed with features like responsive design, lightbox and slideshow functionality, custom CSS etc.
Use the coupon code: BF2014 to get 35% OFF on all Envira Gallery plans.

Siteground is one of the top choice WordPress hosting provider. This year Siteground is offering a whooping 70% discount during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. This deal is good from November 28 till December 1, 2014.

This year for Black Friday Woo is doing something a little different. The more you spend the more you save with Sliding Discounts and there are also three buck-saving Limited Edition Bundles. These offers will last until 12am PST, 1 December.

Spend up to $99 and save 25% with the code: Wishbone
Spend $100-$149 and save 30% with the code: Drumsticks
Spend $150-$299 and save 35% with the code: Butterball
Spend $300+ and save 40% with the code: All the Trimmings

Lightroom Presets

All VSCO Film® is on sale. Save 15% on all film packs through the end of the day PST on Monday, 01 Dec 2014. Returning buyers save an additional 25% through our Loyalty Discount, for a total savings of 40%. With the purchase of one VSCO Film pack, you become eligible for the Loyalty Discount on all additional purchases. You can receive the Loyalty Discount on your first transaction, if you buy more than one film pack.

]]>https://graphicgoo.com/black-friday-deals-for-web-designers/feed/2115My First Mac: The Power Mac 7100https://graphicgoo.com/my-first-mac-the-power-mac-7100/
Sat, 25 Jan 2014 03:49:01 +0000https://graphicgoo.com/?p=67The story of my first Mac on the 30th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh.

]]>Today marks the 30th anniversary of the introduction of the Apple Macintosh. Apple has posted a nice tribute to this groundbreaking computer on their site. Other people are sharing their stories of their first Macs, so I thought I would share mine.

The year was 1995 and I was living in Pasadena, CA attending night school at Art Center College. I had decided that I needed a computer because lab time at school was hard to get and paying for time at the local Kinko’s was getting expensive. After some discussion, my grandparents were generous enough to offer to pay for a Power Mac 7100/80. They also agreed to buy the software, too (Photoshop, Freehand). I barely hung up the phone before I was out the door to go to the student store.

I don’t remember actually buying the computer… I think I was too elated.

I raced home with my beautiful prize. I barely got it up two flights of stairs – hey, that monitor was heavy! I carefully unboxed the Mac and set it up on my futon bed. I pressed the power button and heard that wonderful startup chime. I clicked through the system folders like a giddy school girl. It was mine, ALL MINE!

After five minutes, I had to come back to Earth. Everything was unplugged and put back into their respective boxes. I stacked it next to the front door and moaned like a kid whose toys were taken away. Tomorrow I was moving to my new apartment and I didn’t have any place to set up the computer that night. I couldn’t keep it on the futon!

Yes, I was silly for setting it up only to take it down, but I couldn’t wait a few days to settle into the new apartment. Would I have bothered with all that trouble for a PC running Windows 95? Nope.

]]>67What Apple’s WWDC Keynote Means for Designershttps://graphicgoo.com/what-apples-wwdc-keynote-means-for-designers/
Thu, 14 Jun 2012 01:24:27 +0000https://graphicgoo.com/?p=54I have always loved watching the Apple keynotes because it feels like Christmas morning. You have your wish list that you have been thinking about for the past month and now Tim Cook (Santa) has come to deliver the goods (presents). Sometimes you get what you want and other times, you are a little disappointed. […]

]]>I have always loved watching the Apple keynotes because it feels like Christmas morning. You have your wish list that you have been thinking about for the past month and now Tim Cook (Santa) has come to deliver the goods (presents). Sometimes you get what you want and other times, you are a little disappointed. But there are a few times you are pleasantly surprised.

Updated MacBook Airs and Pros

Tim’s first gifts: updates to the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. Both were upgraded to the 3rd generation Intel Core (a.k.a. Ivy Bridge) and the USB ports are now 3.0 (and backwards compatible to 2.0).

11-inch MacBook Air

1366 x 768 display

1.7 GHz dual-core i5

4GB RAM

Intel HD Graphics 4000

64GB flash storage

5 hours

$999

13-inch MacBook Air

1440 x 900 display

1.8GHz dual-core i5

4GB RAM

Intel HD Graphics 4000

128GB flash storage

7 hours

$1199

13-inch MacBook Pro

1280 x 800 display

2.5 GHz dual-core i5

4GB RAM

Intel HD Graphics 4000

500GB hard drive

7 hours

$1199

15-inch MacBook Pro

1440 x 900 display

2.3GHz dual-core i7

4GB RAM

Nvidia GeForce GT 650M 512MB

500GB hard drive

7 hours

$1799

MacBook Pro with Retina Display

The big gift of the keynote was the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The beautiful display that you enjoy on the iPhone 4/4S and the latest iPad (3) is now available for the first time on a laptop. Not only that, it is super thin – 0.71 inches / 4.46 lbs. compared to the other MacBook Pros weighing in at 0.95 inches / 5.6 lbs.

First, the hard drive is not a hard drive, but a solid state flash drive. That means quicker startup times, applications opening in seconds and saving files faster. But the trade-off is smaller capacity.

First, the hard drive is not a hard drive, but a solid state flash drive. That means quicker startup times, applications opening in seconds and saving files faster. But the trade-off is smaller capacity. The flash drives are more expensive, so you get half the size of the other MacBook Pros. Apple’s thinking is you are going to want the speed and you will be using iCloud or Dropbox to save most of your files anyway.

Second, the MacBook Pro had to lose some features in order to get so thin and light. There is no optical drive (throw out your CDs and DVDs!) and no Ethernet port (adapters are available for $29.00).

Third, all the parts are proprietary. Apple crammed a lot into that slim case and that means they got very creative with the space and components. They used proprietary screws and glue. You read that right… glue. iFixit disassembled a new MacBook Pro and found that trying to upgrade or repair this on your own would be foolish. It may even be impossible to have it upgraded or repaired at the Apple Store without them replacing the whole innards.

On that note, I give you the following warning:

If you are going to buy the MacBook Pro with the Retina display, please buy the AppleCare Protection Plan!

It is a little pricy at $349, but if anything goes wrong, Apple will repair or replace it within two years of purchase.

Right now you’re thinking, “Well, I always buy the AppleCare when I buy an Apple product. You aren’t telling me anything new.” Okay, fair enough, but have you thought about this…

Buy the configuration you want now because you can’t upgrade the MacBook Pro later!

I bought a MacBook Pro about six months ago with the thought that I’ll upgrade the RAM later. I can’t do that with this MacBook. There is no way to open it up without creating a 4.46 pound paperweight. If you think you need more RAM or a bigger flash drive, get it now.

But What About the Mac Pro?

Hear that sound? That’s the sound of crickets. Nothing was said about the Mac Pro during the keynote speech.

The Mac Pro is in sore need of an upgrade (two years since the last upgrade), but all they did on Tuesday was bump up the RAM and processor speed. Not even Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 ports.

This led to speculation that Apple was going to discontinue the Mac Pro, but on Wednesday Tim Cook wrote in an email that they were working on “something really great” for the professional market for 2013.

When will They be Available?

The MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook Pro with Retina display and Mac Pro are available as soon as you find your credit card.

]]>59Desktop Wallpaper for July 2011https://graphicgoo.com/desktop-wallpaper-for-july-2011/
Mon, 04 Jul 2011 01:45:55 +0000https://graphicgoo.com/?p=52Here's a wallpaper celebrating the many car shows we have during the month of July.

]]>52Desktop Wallpaper for June 2011https://graphicgoo.com/desktop-wallpaper-for-june-2011/
Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:18:59 +0000https://graphicgoo.com/?p=13I created this retro wallpaper a couple of years ago and I thought I would release it here on graphicgoo.com. Enjoy!

]]>13Welcome to the New Graphicgoo!https://graphicgoo.com/welcome-to-the-new-graphicgoo/
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:51:56 +0000https://graphicgoo.com/?p=4There is sawdust on the floor and drop clothes to be put away, but the hard work is over.

There is sawdust on the floor and drop clothes to be put away, but the hard work is over. There is still work to be done and over the next few days I will be adding the final pieces. So, grab a martini (or drink of your choice), kick back and enjoy the view. You know I will!